New curbs on knives in school
Updated on 31 May 2007
The Education Secretary announces new legal powers to control the use of knives in schools.
Knife incidents in schools are thankfully rare, according to Education Secretary Alan Johnson, who this morning announced new legal powers for teachers in England to search pupils for knives.
New guidance will instruct headteachers on the use of airport-style metal detectors, and pupils will be barred from school if they refuse searches - which the rules state must be carried out by two members of staff of the same sex as the pupil.
But while the Education Secretary claimed teachers themselves had demanded the new powers, the headteachers' union said it was the job of police, not teachers, to search for weapons.
